Previous Lustra
The history of the Lustrum of Ibn Battuta, of course, begins with the history of the association itself. The association was founded on the 19th of June 1961 at the Grote Markt, where the predecessor of our current faculty was housed: Het Geografisch Instituut (The Geographical Institute). In the beginning, the association was named G.G.S.V. meaning Groningse Geografische Studenten Vereniging (Groningsche Geographical Student Association). Later, Ibn Battuta was added to the name.
In the early years of Ibn Battuta, it was an association mostly aimed at serious activities with many study/course related debates and sometimes room for a party. During the second Lustrum (1971), which was organised by no one less than Bas Eenhoorn, a symposium was organised named ‘Does the periphery have equal opportunities?’. Next to the symposium, ten goldfishes were released into the pond next to the Mercator at Zernike. The Lustrum lasted for two days and was ended with a final party in the Coendersborgboerderij in Helpman.
The Third Lustrum (1976) was very similar to the second one, a symposium was organised with the theme ‘landscape parks’. And on the last day of the Lustrum, a party was organised in the now more famous Coendersborgboerderij in Helpman. During the fourth Lustrum (1981) they chose to host the party at the Trefkoel for a change. Cabaret was a central theme during the Lustrum.
The fifth Lustrum (1986) was a bit more extensive and lasted for a whole three days. This created more room for social activities like a sports day and a movie night. As a tradition, the Lustrum was opened with a symposium about the demographic ageing in the Netherlands. In 1991, during the sixth Lustrum, a hitchhiking weekend was organised, whereby the winning team managed to travel 280 kilometres. During the Lustrum a campaign was set up with the Red Cross to support the Kurds where 25.000 Guilders where collected. The closing party was a big success, with an attendance of 450 people!
The seventh Lustrum (1996) was again even bigger and lasted for six days. Because it was twice as long as the previous one, there was more room for activities. An excursion to Brussels was organised, a hitchhiking competition and even a survival day on the military practice area near Lauwersoog. The cherry on top of the Lustrum was the first every Gala in Ibn-history. A salient detail of the gala is that the cuddle club published a list of all the singles attending the gala, so you could pick your ‘target’ for the night in advance.
In 2001 the eight Lustrum was held, which was again even larger. They managed to put the faculty on hold for a week. A very short foreign excursion was organised to Bad Bentheim and for the first time, an Alumni day was held during the Lustrum week. During the ninth Lustrum (2006) they brought a real camel (!) to Zernike named Emir. And during the hitchhiking competition, one team managed to drink a cup of tea with Dries Roelvink.
During the tenth Lustrum (2011), they celebrated the 50th anniversary of the association. The Lustrum week lasted for a whole ten days and a Lustrumband was established named NIMBY, they performed during parties throughout the Lustrumweek. They organised a travel weekend to Liège and a rather obscure laughing meditation afternoon.
During the eleventh and most recent Lustrum (2016) an eleven-day Lustrum week was organised with the theme shock-resistant. They went on a short foreign excursion towards the Ardennes, played laser game on a secret location and held a frying party on the last day to help with your extreme hangover.
Now it is our tasks as a committee to organise an equally awesome Lustrum as the previous Lustra. In the coming months, we will reveal our theme and more details about the Lustrum week itself. So stay tuned, and keep an eye on our social media.
